Christine Susanna Tjhin joined CSIS in April 2003. She was involved in Democratization Assessment in Southeast Asia program (ASEAN People's Assembly) and programs related to civil society empowerment, such as: Coalition for Participatory Policy (KKP), civil society empowerment in post tsunami Aceh, Indonesian Women Coalition for Legislative Reform, etc.
Currently the Convenor for CSIS' China Study Group, she primarily delves into studies, including: Belt and Road Initiatives in Indonesia and the region; New actors in foreign policy; Sino-Indonesian comprehensive strategic partnership. She has long built an expertise in Chinese Indonesian politics and pluralism in Indonesia through research and activism. In 2017, Christine has also been assigned as Knowledge Manager, where she is tasked to revamp the governance of CSIS knowledge assets.
Prior to joining CSIS, Christine was a Program Officer at the Indonesian Pluralism Institute (IPI) from 2002 until 2003, during which she focused on pluralism and civil society empowerment. She obtained her Bachelor degree in Management from Tarumanagara University, Jakarta. Immediately upon graduation, she was awarded the Australian Development Scholarship to pursue graduate studies at the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra and received her Master of Arts degree in East Asian studies.
In 2006, she was awarded the Gesit Overseas Charity Foundation grant to study at the International College for Chinese Studies, Fujian Teachers University, Fuzhou. From 2008 until 2016, she was Visiting Fellow and undertook doctoral program at the School of International Studies, Peking University, China. She was also Assistant Lecturer for the Peking University and London School of Economics double master degree program.
In 2012, Christine became one of the founder members of Indonesian Students Association in China (PPI Tiongkok), which currently comprises of 24 branches in major cities in China. She was Secretary General on its first year of inception and later Executive Chairman.
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